White Paper
New Considerations
for Human Capital
Management
A guide to optimisation
Talent2
White Paper
New Considerations for Human Capital Management
Today’s leaders in human resources have their work cut out for them.
Recent changes in the world economy require organisations to be
more agile than ever before, otherwise advancements in technology
may render them obsolete. This has numerous implications for HR –
namely, a shift in focus from transactional people process and policy
administration to strategic human capital management.
The growing number of trends, models and solutions
centred on successful strategic HR pose serious
considerations for HR leaders tasked with optimising existing
people processes. Primary concerns for optimisation include:
»» Globalisation and consolidation
»» Social HR and consumerisation of IT
»» Mobility and employee self‑service
»» Workforce analytics and reporting
In order to keep these considerations from becoming
complications, we must first understand what they are and
why they are important. In this paper, we’ll examine each
topic and how they’re changing best practices in human
capital management optimisation.
“
Many organisations with
a global workforce rely on
mismatched Human Resource
Management Systems (HRMS)
and payroll solutions that vary
from one location to another.
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New Considerations for Human Capital Management
A global company, a consolidated system
For years, globalisation – the process of international
integration arising from the interchange of worldviews,
products, ideas and other aspects of culture – was
the realm reserved for the largest companies in the
world. Today, thanks to innovation in transportation
and communication, even the smallest companies do
business across multiple borders.
The emergence of the internet fostered rapid
development of a world economy where anyone can
plug in and connect, where endless opportunities for
new business and partnerships are within reach from the
comfort of your home. This has allowed for expansion
into foreign markets, with satellite offices abroad. It’s
also brought to light certain issues around managing a
global workforce.
This trend isn’t limited to companies based in the U.S. or
Europe; APAC-based companies are also expanding into
foreign markets.
“Chinese firms are beginning to build strong global
brands with an entrenched foothold in China and
now expanding globally,” says William Chin, Staffing
Director at Qualcomm Asia Pacific and avid HR blogger1.
“They are now competing against internationally
recognised corporations for global market share.”
Many organisations with a global workforce rely on
mismatched Human Resource Management Systems
(HRMS) and payroll solutions that vary from one location
to another. This presents some unique issues.
First and foremost, managing payroll and benefits for
employees in multiple locations can be a nightmare.
Not only do tax and labour laws vary widely, but also
maintaining a standardised process across disparate
systems and myriad service providers is almost impossible.
Furthermore, issues around data access, integrity and
usability abound, rendering in‑depth workforce analysis
and planning a pipe dream. Lacking a central data pool,
administrators can’t capture an accurate picture of global
performance in real time, limiting their ability to identify
redundancies and cut costs.
Beyond globalisation, consolidation is an important agenda
item for HR leaders looking to upgrade outdated or broken
people processes. HR workflows vary from one office to the
next – even within the same region. Without a consolidated
recording system, process and policy changes are impossible
to track and implement across the organisation.
This trend has been escalating for some time, as the need
for process standardisation and lower costs shows no signs
of slowing. According to research from the Jeitosa Group’s
Going Global Survey2, the consolidation of employee
populations into a “single, global system of record” is one of
the most pertinent trends facing HR leaders today.
For HR, the implications are pretty straightforward – before
an organisation can begin the process of optimising key HR
processes, they must have in place standard, streamlined
procedures on a consolidated solution. Otherwise, efforts at
organisational improvement will be as disconnected as the
systems you’re relying on to manage the day‑to‑day.
Business impact
Examples of globalisation
Language translations
Global compliance
1. Employee self-service screens
1. Global governance model
2. Manager self-service screens
2. Data privacy & protection
3. HR admin/partner screens
3. Full audit trail (who/what/when)
4. Table/code values
4. Formatted legal reports by country
5. Free-from text translation
5. Data capture for legal reporting
Data structures
Business processes
1. Names/addresses/phone numbers etc.
1. Employment types/contracts
2. Alternate/multiple ID formats
2. Compensation plans/allowances
3. Alternate tables (e.g. job class, ethnicity)
3. Termination/severance agreements
4. Country-specific fields (e.g. religion, hukou)
4. Vacation accruals/absence management
5. International assignments/visas
5. Global benefits/pension funds
Complexity
1 Talent Management in Emerging Markets, Asia HR Blog, March 2013
2 Going Global Survey 2012, Jeitosa Group International
Source: Jeitosa 2010
Understanding consumerisation of IT and social technology
One of the more dynamic changes in the world of work has been the pervasion of consumer technology. Many
employees are already using social and mobile technology to get their work done. While some HR departments have
misguidedly fought this trend, with aggressive policies limiting access to these tools fearing risk of misuse or abuse,
progressive organisations are taking a more strategic approach.
The result has been an influx of social‑powered tools focused on fostering collaboration, improving communication,
and connecting employees the world over. Though social HR is still in its infancy, the implications of this trend are
hard to ignore for a few reasons.
Today’s workforce is:
Social
Mobile
Social media is powered by the ability to build
connections and share information. HR departments
who are actively resisting use of and access to social
technology in the workplace are fighting an uphill
battle – and potentially hurting their organisation.
According to a study conducted by the UN, six
billion have access to mobile phones, while only
4.5 billion people have access to working toilets3.
Social HR tools leverage the desire to connect and
share, to create a more engaging experience in
processes like recruiting, performance management,
and learning and development.
Of those billions, roughly 17 percent of people
have smart phones4. As that number grows, so
does demand for mobile access to company
information and tools allowing employees to
work from wherever they are.
The consumerisation of IT offers a great opportunity for HR to play a more strategic role in an organisation.
Though this trend is still in its infancy, optimising for social and mobile HR services will go a long way to
develop a more agile and engaged workforce.
3 UN Millennium Development Goals Report, March 2013
4 Global Smartphone Installed Base Forecast by Operating System for 88 Countries: 2007 to 2017
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Leveraging the power of the people with employee self‑service
The most business‑critical tools and technology in HR
are all focused on one thing – saving time. The sad truth
for many HR departments today is that the majority
of time and resources still go to keeping up with daily
administrative tasks.
Maintaining accurate employee records, processing new
hire paperwork, managing endless paper documents
using an archaic filing system; there’s little time left to
develop long‑term strategic goals when your HR team
is at capacity. Process automation, though helpful, only
goes so far. The load needs to be shared.
Today many solution providers offer robust employee
portals with efficient self‑service functionality. Within
these portals, employees can review and update personal
information, view pay and tax history, manage benefits
and request time off – all on their own.
For HR administrators, this has become a major
timesaver. Rather than processing requests manually,
they receive notifications for items requiring approval or
review. Drastically reducing the amount of time spent on
everyday items, these tools are enabling HR departments
to begin looking ahead to new challenges.
Meanwhile, the global workforce is increasingly
mobile. To address this trend, employee‑facing mobile
technology offers opportunities for HR departments to
operate more efficiently at all levels. For example:
»» Mobile access allowing hiring managers to approve
job requisitions
»» Employees can complete an online training course
»» Supervisors can approve schedule changes
»» Business leaders can review organisational
performance
Employee‑facing HR technology – mobile
or otherwise – continues to gain traction
in the enterprise.
New tools are emerging every day
that can free up HR manpower while
improving employee access to key
information and functionality.
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New Considerations for Human Capital Management
Workforce analytics – the new face of business intelligence
Advancements in technology have made HR software more affordable for organisations of any
size. Aside from streamlining and automating processes, these systems are collecting all kinds
of data on your workforce. The question of what to do with all of this data is one of the headier
topics of conversation recently.
While the majority of HR systems – be they recruiting, performance management, or simply
record‑keeping systems – offer some form of data analytics and reporting functionality; some
are tracking simple metrics, but others are doing far more.
Tracking key performance indicators, comparing them with benchmark data, and searching for
correlations in other areas; workforce analytics tools are getting increasingly sophisticated, and
are now providing valuable and quantifiable return on investment data.
“Moving forward, HR analytics will potentially become the link between the HR function and
the boardroom,” says Miranda Lee, director of people and change management at KPMG in
Singapore5. “HR analytics play a central role in predicting the behaviour of talent, managing
it and developing a customised plan for the organisation’s workforce.”
5 Bringing Strategy and HR Together, HRM Asia, June 2013
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New Considerations for Human Capital Management
Align business goals and optimise HR for lasting success
As many have learned, the success of any major HR initiative is heavily dependent on support from
leadership. Without it, efforts to drive change are exponentially more difficult. Upgrading from
administrative to strategic human resources requires more than leadership buy‑in. It requires solid
business acumen, where HR leaders have an intimate understanding of company goals and business
needs – and understand how HR can most effectively support them.
Unfortunately, the number of organisations doing this is small. As Steve Lane Director, Human
Resources, APAC and Japan, Informatica S.E.A explains6, this is a big problem:
“
Without understanding the strategy, needs and
priorities, it is very difficult for HR to provide the
right value, and be relevant to the business. By
being closer to the business and understanding the
business strategy, needs and priorities, HR may focus
on solving some of the pains the business is having.
Before undertaking strategic optimisation of key
HR processes, consider existing business challenges.
By aligning long-term and near‑term business
goals with your plans for HR, you can garner
executive support while working within your existing
framework for measuring success.
However, where a solid tie between strategic goals
and human resource processes is lacking, process
optimisation runs the risk of going nowhere fast.
6 Strategic HR, HRM Asia, June 2013
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About Talent2
Talent2 is a leading Human Resources Business Process Outsourcing
(HR BPO) and Managed Services organisation in the Asia Pacific
region, working with clients across diverse business types and
industries to deliver end‑to‑end talent management solutions that put
people first. These include HR Advisory, Payroll, Recruitment, RPO and
Learning solutions to enable organisations to improve the power and
productivity of their people
Founded in 2003, Talent2 operates from 39 offices providing services
in 32 countries across Asia Pacific, Middle East, UK and USA.
In 2012, Talent2 was privatised by its founders, Geoff Morgan
and Andrew Banks, through Morgan & Banks Investments (MBI)
in partnership with Allegis Group, Inc. Allegis Group, Inc., a private
company founded in 1983, is a staffing and workforce management
company based in Maryland, USA. Allegis Group serves its customers
through several business units that provide staffing services and
solutions to a wide range of industries from offices in over 300 cities
throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia.
The combined strength of both businesses further cements Talent2’s
position as a global organisation and gives it a unique capacity and
platform to fulfil the rapidly evolving needs for talent management
across the globe. The partnership positions Talent2 strongly in line with
current HRO market consolidation trends demanding global capability
and expertise to meet the needs of clients in the dynamic and rapidly
changing economic environment of today.
References
»» Aspect (2012) Mobile Technology: Equipping Supervisors and
Managers for the Next-Generation Customer Contact Centre
»» Bonitasoft (2013) How to Get the Human Resources
Information System you Need
»» Deloitte (2010) HR Shared Services Optimisation – Attaining
the full potential of HR Shared Services
»» KPMG (2012) HR Function Optimisation
»» Manpower (2012) Modern Outsourcing Strategies Meet the
Need for a More Agile Workforce
»» Sonde, Tom (2011) HRIS Optimisation – Methods to Improve
your HR System Capabilities
talent2.com
© Talent2 Pty Ltd 2013
Design 1103 11/2013
»» Workday (2013) Predict and Prepare: Predictions for Critical
Trends in 2013